AU697220B2

AU697220B2 - A process and an arrangement for the production of a co-extruded product and the product obtained

Info

Publication number: AU697220B2
Application number: AU72960/94A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Pierre Dupart; Osvaldo Geromini; Minas Zafiropoulos
Original assignee: Societe des Produits Nestle SA; Nestle SA
Current assignee: Societe des Produits Nestle SA
Priority date: 1993-10-08
Filing date: 1994-09-13
Publication date: 1998-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2014-09-13
Also published as: JPH07184621A; NZ264540A; ZA947020B; EP0647410B1; CA2132366C; DK0647410T3; PT647410E; AU7296094A; NO310956B1; JP3665372B2; CA2132366A1; NO943750D0; ES2148262T3; NO943750L; GR3034342T3; ATE193804T1; EP0647410A1; DE69424913D1; DE69424913T2

Abstract

The invention relates to a process for obtaining a coextruded product including an outer envelope and a filling. The apparatus comprises an extruder (1), a coextrusion head (2), a former (4) and a cooling system (21).

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 SM P T.RTR RPECTFTCATON FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

r t t i s Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Servic C C ti e SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S.A.

Pierre DUPART, Oswaldo GEROMINI and Minas ZAFIROPOULOS SHELSTON WATERS Clarence Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Invention Title: "A PROCESS AND AN ARRANGEMENT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A CO-EXTRUDED PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCT OBTAINED" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- -4 10 "M A I I I la- Lilt t C (itt it cct~ t tic t t C Ct

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It, tn t C This invention relates to a process and an arrangement for the production of a coextruded product comprising an outer envelope and a filling. The invention also relates to the co-extruded product comprising an outer envelope of uniform thickness and a liquid, semi-liquid or powder-form inner filling.

Processes for the production of co-extruded products are already known.

EP 487 757 relates to a process for the production of a co-extruded product with an outer envelope based on cereals.

The disadvantage of this process is that the outer envelope of the product obtained does not have a uniform thickness because the moulding time of the product is too short to guarantee such a result. This is troublesome above all in cases where it is intended to produce a product of which the filling is liquid, semi-liquid or in the form of a powder.

Composite products comprising an outer envelope and an inner filling are also known, for example from EP 178 187, EP 88 574 and EP 487 757. In these patents, the products in question comprise outer envelopes based on cereals with moisture contents 15 of 8 to 10% by weight. With moisture contents of this, order, the products in question are not difficult to keep at ambient temperature.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or at least ameliorate one or more deficiencies of the prior art.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of a co-extruded 20 product comprising an outer casing comprising a food substance selected from the group consisting of textured meat and textured fish and a filling comprising an ingredient selected f-rm the group consisting of vegetable, oil/fat, animal oil/fat and a powdered yeast, in which the outer casing is extruded and the filling is delivered to the exit of the extrusion die to form a co-extruded strand which then enters a moulding unit in which it is moulded by a pressure roller and the product obtained is cooled.

The process is useable both in human and in animal nutrition.

In cases where it is intended to obtain a product suitable as an animal food, the mixture for the outer envelope which enters the extruder is a mixture of a suspension of textured meat or fish, a flour of cereals and starches and a solution of phosphoric acid and an additive to reduce the water activity.

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-2- In the context of the invention, textured meat or fish is understood to be a meat or fish paste in which the functional properties of the proteins have been partly or completely modified by heat treatment, mechanical treatment and by binders during the extrusion step. Meat is understood to be meat from poultry, rabbits, cattle or sheep, meal obtained from carcasses of the animals mentioned or offal. By offal is meant both lobes of lung and liver or kidneys. By fish is meant any type of fish and fish meal. In this case, the filling consists of a mixture based on a product selected from vegetable oil, animal oil and yeast powder.

In cases where it is intended to produce a product suitable for human consumption, it is possible above all to make products of which the outer envelope is c' t, based on cereals and the filling consists of semi-liquid chocolate, almond paste or ,,cocoa powder. In this case, the outer envelope is prepared from a mixture of flours, water, sugar, salt, colorants and flavouring.

t Pastas filled with meat or spheres of cereals filled with cream may also be produced by the process according to the invention.

The temperature profile of the extruder is between 120 and 200°C. For animal It food products, the temperature profile is between 150 and 160°C. For products intended for human consumption, the temperature profile is between 120 and 140°C.

The filling is normally introduced at ambient temperature or at a higher temperature.

Accordingly, the invention provides an extrusion cooking process by which it is possible to obtain a product ready for use.

When the co-extruded strand issues from the co-extrusion head, it is cooled to a temperature of the order of 70°C and moulded for about 1 second.

After moulding, the co-extruded product is cooled to a temperature of 20 to 70 0

C.

The extruder is operated at a throughput of 150 to 600 kg/h. Where the end product is intended for human consumption, the extruder is operated at a throughput of around 150 kg/h whereas, for animal food products, the throughput may be higher, for example between 300 and 600 kg/h. The rate of travel of the co-extruded strand is of the order of 10 to 40 m/minute.

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i I 44 44 Se £44 54( 14 44 4 64 4 In another aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for preparing a coextruded shaped product comprising: an extruder for extruding a foodstuff wherein the extruder terminates in an extrusion head having a product outlet die and having a feed duct pipe for feeding a foodstuff filler material into the foodstuff extruded through the head so that the extruded foodstuff encases the filler material so that a foodstuff-encased product passes through the outlet die; a shaper positioned for receiving the encased product directly from the outlet die and having an inner rotatable ring body mould and outer rotatable annulus having moulds wherein the outer annulus moulds are positioned about and off-centre of and are rotatable with the inner ring body mould so that upon rotation, the annulus moulds and the ring body mould converge for shaping the encased product and then the annulus moulds separate from the shaped product; and a system for cooling the shaped product positioned for receiving the shaped 15 product.

This production line is extremely compact and has a length of the order of 20 m.

A twin-screw extruder, for example of the type manufactured by Clextral or Werner Pfleiderer, may be used as the extruder. It has a length of 1.2 to 1.8 m.

The outlet die is preferably round with a diameter of the order of 20 mmi and comprises a passage for feeding the filling substantially to the centre of the paste.

The moulding unit is of the type used in confectionery for the production of sweets, comprising an outer ring equipped with dies and positioned eccentrically in relation to a crown similarly equipped with dies, both the ring and the crown being mounted for rotation and driven simultaneously by a single motor in order continuously to form the co-extruded product. The two elements are eccentrically positioned to allow entry of the strands, their moulding as such and their expansion.

The co-extruded product issues at a temperature of the order of 70°C, passes onto a distributing belt and, finally, arrives in a cooling system in which it is cooled with ambient air in one or more stages.

In a further aspect, the present invention comprises a composite food product comprising: I i I n-

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-4an outer casing which comprises a food substance selected from the group consisting of textured meat and textured fish and which comprises an additive, in an amount of from 3 to 5% by weight, to lessen the action of water, phosphoric acid, an anti-mould product and an antioxidant and which has a moisture content of between 20 and 40% by weight; and a filling which comprises an ingredient selected from the group consisting of vegetable oil/fat, animal oil/fat and a powdered yeast and which comprises between and 40% of the total volume of the product.

The outer envelope or casing of the product according to the invention may additionally contain flour of cereals and/or starches, such as wheat starch or potato starch.

f tti I ::sta Since the product according to the invention has a high moisture content, the :t Vouter envelope must contain a preservative, such as posphoric acid, an additive to reduce the water activity, an anti-mould agent and an antioxidant. The additive for 15 reducing the water activity is normally a mixture of glycerol and hydrolysed whey and is used in a quantity of 3 to The phosphoric acid is also used in a quantity of 3 to C CL 2 based on the total weight of the outer envelope. The anti-mould agent is normally sorbate and citrate of potassium used in a quantity of 0.5 to 1% while the antioxidant is normally BHA (butylhydroxyanisole) or BHT (butylhydroxytoluene) in a quantity of 0.1 to 0.2%.

The filling is liquid, semi-liquid or in the form of a powder. To obtain a liquid or semi-liquid filling, fats, milk-based products or meat o'f a type other than that used for the outer envelope are used.

The filling normally consists of an animal or vegetable fat with a melting point of 35'C, for example soybean oil or tallow.

To increase the appetency of the co-extruded product according to the invention, the filling additionally contains from 5 to 20% of yeast.

g The filling may also be in the form of a powder. In this case, the filling is selected from the following constituents either individually or in combination: sugar, yeast, milk powder, vitamin, mineral elements.

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The shape of the co-extruded product is not critical. Preferably, it is substantially round, oval or elliptical. The co-extruded product is either in a single colour or in several colours and is between 15 and 60 mm in size.

In one particular embodiment, the envelope comprises a mixture of 40 to by weight of textured meat or fish, between 30 and 45% of cereal or starch flour, between 3 and 5% of phosphoric acid and the additive for reducing the water activity, the anti-mould agent and the antioxidant in the quantities mentioned above.

The co-extruded product according to the invention has high appetency and may be made in a variety of shapes in relation to the products currently available on the market. Its major advantages are elasticity.

The term "comprising" and "comprises" is used throughout the specification in an inclusive manner, that is equivalent to "including but not limited to". It is not intended to be used in an exclusive sense such as "consisting only of" or "composed only of'.

The invention is described in more detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 diagrammatically illustrates the arrangement according to the invention.

Figure 2 diagrammatically illustrates the co-extrusion head.

Figure 3 is a section through the product in a first embodiment.

Figure 4 is a section through the product in a second embodiment.

The extruder is charged with the required starting material, for example with flour and a meat suspension for an animal food product. Taking into account the

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t:ir~~c 4 i -6temperature profile, for example of the order of 150 to 160 0 C, the paste arriving at the co-extrusion head is cooked. The pumping system delivers the filling (6) through the passage to the centre of the paste A co-extruded strand is obtained and, after adequate profiling, is delivered to a moulding unit This moulding unit is of the UNIPLAST type manufactured by the Bosch company and comprises a feed S r Ai S A C r 'As

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h rl' I_ _i -I *I I for the strand and an outer ring system (10) equipped with dies which is positioned eccentrically in relation to a crown both elements being simultaneously rotated by a system (12) effecting the transmission between a motor (not shown) and the crown. The moulding unit operates as follows: the strand enters at (13), is preshaped at separated at (15) and then expanded at The co-extruded product (17) are then ejected at (18) and delivered from a feed channel (19) to the distributing belt (20) and then to the air cooling system This system has three stages. The products (17) I are transported by a conveyor belt (22) in the direction of the arrow drop onto the conveyor belt (23) in the direction of the arrow and finally drop onto the 15 conveyor belt (24) in the direction of the arrow (C) where they are ready to be packed in a sealed pack.

The arrangement according to the invention may also 0 be used for making products intended for human consumption, such as cereal-based spheres filled with chocolate.

20 Referring to Fig. 3, the co-extruded product comprises a meat-based outer envelope (30) having a water content of 28.5% with an a, of 0.86. The inner filling (31) is based on soybean oil and yeast.

i *'In Fig. 4, the outer envelope (32) is based on fish and has a water content of 27.5% with an a, of 0.86. The filling (33) is again based on soybean oil and yeast.

0*4rS* The invention is further illustrated by the following Examples.

Example 1 This Example relates to an embodiment of the process according to the invention for making an animal food product.

by weight of meat suspension is mixed in an extruder with 40% of a mixture of flours and 10% of a 8 suspension of preservative.

The meat suspension is obtained by breaking up loaves frozen to -21°C and then grinding, fine-grinding and mixing in a kneader potassium sorbate, flavouring and antioxidants. The meat used is a 50:50 mixture of pig lung and meat.

The flours are obtained simply by mixing potato starch, glucose, blood plasma and wheat gluten.

For the suspension of preservative, phosphoric acid, glycerol and hydrolysed whey are mixed in a kneader.

The three components described above are separately introduced into a Clextral BC 72 extruder. The zones of the extruder are at temperatures of 22, 28, 140 and "160°C. The meat and the flour are introduced into the 15 extruder at a rate of 125 kg/h while the preservative suspension is introduced at a rate of 25 kg/h.

.t V A filling consisting of a mixture of soybean oil and yeast is used to increase appetency. The filling is delivered to the co-extrusion head at a rate of 25 kg/h.

20 The filled strand issues at a rate of 15 m/minute and is cooled by the circulation of water around the strand (double-jacket cooler). It has a diameter of o mm. The strand is then delivered to a UNIPLAST 160 f moulding unit which rotates at a variable speed according to the speed at which the co-extruded strand arrives.

The co-extruded products are then cooled in a three- 1 t °level belt cooler.

An output of 300 kg/hour is obtained.

The appetency tests carried out with these products produced better results compared with the products currently available on the market.

Example 2 This Example relates to an embodiment of the process according to the invention for making products intended 1' 9 for human consumption. In this case, the outer envelope comprises 80% of cereals, 10% of sugar and 10% of water and is subjected to extrusion cooking at 160°C.

The filling consists of 80% of chocolate and 20% of ground almonds. The co-extruded strand issues at a rate of 15 m/minute.

Example 3 The filling of the co-extruded product contains 77% of soybean oil, 20% of yeast, an antioxidant, sorbate and citrate of potassium and lecithin. This filling makes up of the volume of the product.

The outer envelope comprises 40% of a dry mixture of potato starch, glucose, blood plasma and wheat gluten, Se 15 50% of a suspension of pig lung and meat and 10% of a

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suspension based on phosphoric acid as preservative and .glycerol and hydrolysed whey as an additive for reducing the water activity.

Example 4 The filling of the co-extruded product is the same as in Example 3.

S. The outer envelope comprises 40% of a dry mixture of potato starch, glucose, blood plasma and wheat gluten, 50% of a suspension of sardines and 10% of a suspension of phosphoric acid, glycerol and hydrolysed whey.

Example The filling of the co-extruded product is the same as in Example 3.

The outer envelope comprises 40% of a dry mixture of wheat, potato starch, blood plasma, wheat gluten and glucose, 50% of a suspension of pig lung and meat, chicken tissue and autolysate and 10% of a suspension of phosphoric acid, glycerol and hydrolysed whey.

.1i Example 6 The outer envelope is the same as in Example 5 while the filling consists of of yeast powder and 50% of sugar.

The present invention provides a process for the production of a co-extruded product with a liquid, semi-liquid or powder-form inner filling which minimizes the risks of obtaining a product whose filling might run or be visible from the outside.

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Claims

1. A process for the production of a co-extruded product comprising an outer casing comprising a food substance selected from the group consisting of textured meat and textured fish and a filling comprising an ingredient selected from the group consisting of vegetable oil/fat, animal oil/fat and a powdered yeast, in which the outer casing is extruded and the filling is delivered to the exit of the extrusion die to form a co-extruded strand which then enters a moulding unit in which it is moulded by a pressure roller and the product obtained is cooled.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the components of the outer casing are mixed in the extruder.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein extrusion is carried out at a temperature of 120 to 200 0 C.

4. A process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein moulding takes place for about 1 second at a temperature of the order of

5. A process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the product is cooled with air to a temperature of 20 to 70 0 C.

6. A process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the process is carried out with a throughput of 150 to 600 kg/h at the exit of the extrusion die and at a rate of travel of the co-extruded strand of the order of 10 to 40 m/minute.

7. An apparatus for preparing a co-extruded shaped product comprising: an extruder for extruding a foodstuff wherein the extruder terminates in an extrusion head having a product outlet die and having a feed duct pipe for feeding a foodstuff filler material into the foodstuff extruded through the head so that the extruded foodstuff encases the filler material so that a foodstuff-encased product passes through the outlet die; a shaper positioned for receiving the encased product directly from the outlet die and having an inner rotatable ring body mould and outer rotatable annulus having moulds wherein the oute ainnulus moulds are positioned about and off-centre of and are rotatable with the inner ring body mould so that upon rotation, the annulus moulds and i 30 the ring body mould converge for shaping the encased product and then the annulus moulds separate from the shaped product; and 2 2A -12- a system for cooling the shaped product positioned for receiving the shaped product.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the system for cooing the shaped product comprises a plurality of conveyor belts positioned one above the other.

9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or 8 further comprising a conveyor belt positioned for receiving the shaped product from the shaper and for conveying the shaped product to the system for cooling the shaped product. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the outlet die is round.

11. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the extruder is an extrusion-cooker extruder.

12. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 11. wherein the extruder is a twin-screw extruder.

13. An apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 12, wherein the system for cooling the shaped product is an air cooling system.

14. A composite food product comprising: aii outer casing which comprises a food substance selected fr-om the group consisting of textured meat and textured fish and which comprises an additive, in an amount of from 3 to 5% by weight, to lessen the action of water, phosphoric acid, an anti-mould product and an antioxidant and which has a moisture content of between and 40% by weight; and a filling which comprises an ingredient selected from the group consisting of vegetable oil/fat, aniimal oil/fat and a powdered yeast and which comprises between and 40% of the total volume of the product. A co-extruded product as claimed in claim 14, wherein the outer casing additionally contains cereal or starch flour.

16. A co-extruded product as claimed in claim 14 or 15, wherein the filling contains soybean oil.

17. A co-extruded product as claimed in claim 16, wherein the filling contains between and 20% of yeast. 14 {71n~jA ;;r 13-

18. A co-extruded product as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the filling is a powder selected from the following constituents: sugar, yeast, milk powder, vitamins and mineral elements.

19. A co-extruded product as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein, in the outer casing, the textured meat or fish makes up from 40 to 60%, the cereal or starch flour makes up from 30 to 45%, the phosphoric acid and the additive for reducing the water activity make up from 3 to 45%, the anti-mould agent makes up from 0.5 to 1% and the antioxidant makes up from 0.1 to 0.2%. A process for the production of a co-extruded product substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings and examples but exclhding comparative examples.

21. A composite food product substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings and examples but excluding comparative examples.

22. An apparatus for preparing a co-extruded shaped product substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings and examples but excluding comparative examples. DATED this 13th day of August 1998 SOCIETE DES PRODUCTS NESTLE S.A. Attorney: PAUL G. HARRISON Fellow Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia of BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS i' I. r 0k w-s l ""j 4 14 Abstract The invention relates to a process for the produc- tion of a co-extruded product comprising an outer enve- lope and a filling. The arrangement comprises an ex- truder a co-extrusion head a moulding unit (4) and a cooling system (21). Fig. 1 1